Mint Leaves (fresh)

About Mint

Mint is thought to have originated in Asia and the Mediterranean. It has been used for thousands of years for medicinal purposes (stomach aches, chest pain, indigestion, etc.), flavoring, and perfumes. There are ~30 species of mint, with the US producing ~70% of the world’s peppermint and spearmint.

Nutrition Benefits of Mint

Mint contains some great antioxidants – including perillyl alcohol and rosmarinic acid – which are thought to have cancer, allergy, asthma, and inflammation fighting benefits. It is also known to promote digestion, help with irritable bowl syndrom, and help with muscle relaxation. The essential oil of peppermint has also been shown to help fight bad bacteria.

Can I replace with Mint Essential Oil?

Yes. If you have a high quality mint essential oil that is intended for oral consumption, you can replace mint leaves with mint essential oil. We recommend starting with just 1 drop, trying the smoothie, then adjusting to your liking. Essential Oil is very strong, so you can easily over mint a recipe if you are not careful.

Storage Tip

You can freeze mint leaves. There are a few ways to do it – all start with washing, drying, and removing stems. After that, you have a few options:

1.) Ice Cube Method – fill an ice cube tray 1/2 full with chopped up mint leaves, fill the rest with water, then freeze. They are good for 3 months!

2.) You can just freeze them on a baking sheet for 2-3 hours, then put them into freezer bags. They are good for 3 months like this.

Always discuss with your doctor

This information is not meant to replace your doctor, but to work in tandem with your doctor’s advice. This website makes it easy for you and your doctor to select the best foods and the best smoothie recipes that you should be eating.

The Research

Summary:

References:

Summary:

Human: Peppermint may have therapeutic value in gastric emptying disorders. It may have therapeutic effects in patients suffering from functional dyspepsia. It appears to be an effective remedy for dyspepsia.

Summary:

References:

Summary:

Animal: It exhibits chemopreventive and anti-genotoxic properties when given to mice with chemically induced lung cancer. It has neuro-protective properties against gamma irradiation induced DNA fragmentation and apoptosis. It protects against radiation induced testicular damage.
In Vitro: It enhances an anti-proliferative activity of vitamin D in prostate cancer cells. Mint has radioprotective properties.

References:

Summary:

References:

How Our Scoring System Works

For each health goal, we assigned a score to each recipe and each ingredient. This helps you better understand the correlation that medical research is suggesting between foods and benefits to various health goals. Our scoring system is based on REAL RESEARCH published on pubmed.gov. This is a website that curates over 25 million different biomedical journals.

What we consider when creating your scores:

1Type of Study (human, animal, lab, or academic review)

2Amount of Research

3What the Research Says

4How much of the ingredient we use (for the recipes)

Mint Leaves (fresh)

Page 1

OVERVIEW

About Mint

Mint is thought to have originated in Asia and the Mediterranean. It has been used for thousands of years for medicinal purposes (stomach aches, chest pain, indigestion, etc.), flavoring, and perfumes. There are ~30 species of mint, with the US producing ~70% of the world’s peppermint and spearmint.

Nutrition Benefits of Mint

Mint contains some great antioxidants – including perillyl alcohol and rosmarinic acid – which are thought to have cancer, allergy, asthma, and inflammation fighting benefits. It is also known to promote digestion, help with irritable bowl syndrom, and help with muscle relaxation. The essential oil of peppermint has also been shown to help fight bad bacteria.

Can I replace with Mint Essential Oil?

Yes. If you have a high quality mint essential oil that is intended for oral consumption, you can replace mint leaves with mint essential oil. We recommend starting with just 1 drop, trying the smoothie, then adjusting to your liking. Essential Oil is very strong, so you can easily over mint a recipe if you are not careful.

Storage Tip

You can freeze mint leaves. There are a few ways to do it – all start with washing, drying, and removing stems. After that, you have a few options:

1.) Ice Cube Method – fill an ice cube tray 1/2 full with chopped up mint leaves, fill the rest with water, then freeze. They are good for 3 months!

2.) You can just freeze them on a baking sheet for 2-3 hours, then put them into freezer bags. They are good for 3 months like this.

OUR SCORING SYSTEM

For each health protocol, we assigned a score to each recipe and each ingredient. This helps you better understand the correlation that medical research is suggesting between foods and benefits to various health conditions. Our scoring system is based on REAL RESEARCH published on pubmed.gov. This is a website that curates over 25 million different biomedical journals.